


Nice Night

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Although he admits he wants her, Coulson's fascination with Skye, Current lives, F/M, Gen, Parallels, Past Lives, Romance, Skye Skye Skye, Skye admitting she wants Phil, Skye's massive crush on Coulson, UST, Wardburn, gen ish, pretty tame, some flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-06
Updated: 2014-07-06
Packaged: 2018-02-07 16:45:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1906395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short ficlets with Skye and Coulson's thoughts during "Only Light in the Darkness" and "Nothing Personal".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Coulson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From Coulson's POV

In the end, he did the only thing he could do.

He let go.

Inside of him, something felt like it came loose, quietly, as he acknowledged this on the plane back to Providence base.

In fact, turning backwards and analyzing the events of the past few hours, he realized he had been letting go in stages. 

A part of him had wanted to keep listening as she told his team about him. About them. He really did. His life before he died. And then she started to talk about after. As though he were still dead and just those moments between them, captured in her mind. 

He couldn't anymore. He didn't want to remember it. Her eyes on him, her laughing with him. The plans they had made. 

He took the mic out of his ear. He needed to in order to finish what he came here to do.

Keep Audrey Nathan safe. 

That was all he could do for her now. 

Fitz had asked him why and he had said that she was healing. But the truth was, he was too. More than healing, really.

He was a different man.

Then they had lured Daniels, using Audrey as the bait. Even though he hadn't wanted to use her, he wanted to finish it. And he was just on a mission again, and all the pieces needed to play their parts in order for it to work.

He heard her music, but it was like he didn't feel it. When Daniels approached and the team was overwhelmed, he had to run down the stairs and stop this once and for all. He picked up the rigged stage light and then Trip was on his feet.

Audrey was caught as Daniels exploded from the overload of energy, pushed across the stage floor, and he panicked.

All he wanted was for her to live. He just couldn't do it with her.

His lips touched her forehead. He promised to protect her. To be a SHIELD.

Someday, he would tell her.

Whether Audrey would understand him now, or even if she wanted to, he was working for a terrorist organization and just his presence was a danger to her. He was turning back into darkened corners, even darker that the ones he had started in, when he had felt so sure of the orders he was following. And she couldn't come with him.

Raina had taunted him about her. That had stung him, more than he cared to revisit. The Clairvoyant knew. He needed to be focused, and this could hurt her. 

Because, she didn't know him anymore. 

He was here to clean up SHIELD's mess. This was a start.

For now.

He realized it was like this with May, too. Melinda was his friend. They went back, almost so far, she seemed cemented in whole swaths of his life. And yet, she didn't know him now. And not knowing him made her afraid. She was still trying to protect the Phil Coulson she had known, and he was unpredictable and with everything shaken, he realized that who he was now could only forgive her that.

After all, he had once been given a second chance.

****

He didn't want to freak out, but, he was very close to freaking out.

About a hair's breadth away, if he was being honest with himself.

What held him together was knowing Skye had a plan. He felt sure about that. Something inside of him.

Trip was looking to him. Looking for orders.

What came out was that he had been sitting on his suspicions, that the team had been set up. Ward, the Fridge, Garrett.

They had sent him after Audrey, they had set Daniels free so they could get to Skye. That had felt like duty. He knew how to do that. This felt like someone had ripped out...

Dammit. Why? Why this, now? Whatever TAHITI did to him, or the GH-325, or both. Everyone knew he was different. But not how or why. And the one thing that made sense, right now, in the middle of all of this...

Those fucking bastards.

And he did just what they wanted him to. The image of Skye holding hands with Ward turned his stomach so much he shocked himself. Ward had shot Nash in cold blood, claiming he did it to protect Skye. At the time it was troubling, but now, the implications of that completely horrified him. The Clairvoyant had mocked his feelings for her, then acted like she was something disposable.

No. They needed her. They wanted the hard drive data. Skye must be terrified, but she would be alive. They needed her alive.

He needed her alive. 

And Skye had a plan. 

When they located the Bus in Los Angeles, when they had managed to escape Talbot, Coulson came up with a strategy to get him onto the Bus. 

He felt confident he could take Ward. Maria looked down at the floor when he said it out loud. But, he knew Maria had decided back in Providence that he was on the warpath and he was a liability and she was just going to try to be a friend at this point. Which, was good. Because May had bailed and he needed a friend right now.

He made it aboard the Bus and began his search. Seeing the lounge and medlab empty, he went for the interrogation room, knowing, just knowing she was still alive. That Ward was busy in the cockpit and holding her.

Because, she had to be. 

He turned the handle and saw her face staring back at him, she leapt out of her seat and threw herself into his arms, he touched her. Touched her. 

Skye.

Solid. Skye. Alive.

Skye.

She was okay. That Ward didn't hurt her. But, he's in the cockpit. And Coulson's hand touches the gun and he wants Ward to understand. The cockpit is a dangerous place to exchange fire. He's been thinking about killing Ward.

He's been thinking about it.

****

They're alive. Barely.

But, she's with him again.

He can relax.

He makes a comment about being homeless. Thinks it will be funny.

She is not taking the bait.

What he really wants is just to look at her face. To stare at her and study her. Because, he felt today like he might miss something.

Like he's just waking up and if he blinks he'll lose his sight all over again.

Really, he wants to touch her. He's 50 years old, but the adrenaline is still coursing through him after that ride in Lola and what he really wants is to stare at her, and then kiss her, and then, if there is time, if she would let him, make love to her.

There isn't going to be time.

It's just a fantasy, anyway. He needs her more than he needs that.

He looks at her and tells her that they'll get him. She's staring back at him, and looks as though she wants to get Ward and that she's also looking for something else.

Some kind of release.

Skye has been through things, but, the near-death experience she had today is probably a new one.

She's being clever and leaning forward and telling him how she left them a present.

He smiles and it makes him a bit excited knowing that she is as angry as he is and that whatever happened with Ward, they want to take him down, together.

So, he hands over the chocolate, and she takes it from his hand. He feels the jolt when they touch.

She stares back at him, intentionally, as she puts it in her mouth.

What she's feeling is just the adrenaline.

Instead of saying what he wants to say, he says: "Nice night."


	2. Skye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From her POV.

She is terrified.

The few times when she's been in a tight spot, this kind of tight spot, it was alone.

And the walls are closing in on her now. 

But she hates that she's alone right now. Koenig is dead. May left.

Then she takes a few hitched breaths, her mind racing, and tells herself:

"I'm not that girl anymore."

It's okay. Okayokayokay.

Standing she starts going through the cabinet. Forming a plan, making the dots connect.

The first step, is to let the team know that Ward is fucking HYDRA.

The push of the adrenaline makes her jump when she hears him calling her name. He's looking for her.

Wait. Wait. She needs more time.

Then she finds it.

She wonders if she'd have the stomach to stab him with it if he opened the door right now.

No. The truth is, she just wants to get away in one piece. They have a lot of work to do. To round up HYDRA and take back what is theirs.

As the tool scratches the surface of the window panel, scratching into the city lights, she's already moved past point B in her mind and is onto point C.

It will work, she tells herself. It has to.

She's not willing to die for him. And she's not willing to let them have the data on that hard drive.

A bunch of asshole Nazis aren't going to twist all of their hard work and pain and memories and use them to hurt people out there in the world.

They are still going to be the SHIELD.

****

She's sitting in the cockpit with the human monster, staring out at the sunset.

Before she had a tense relationship with him as her S.O., but now he wants more and now he's put his hands on her, and it's disgusting and she's hoping that more than anything else, that this is fake.

All she can muster is a comment about the sunset.

Because, she might not see another. She has no intention of giving him what he wants. Ever.

She looks over at him and thinks she liked the smiles of the Fake Ward much better. When the Real Ward smiles, the HYDRA Ward, it looks like he never really learned how to do it right. 

Make a real, honest to goodness smile.

Sinking back in the seat next to him, she gives him her own cool, easy smile and looks away. 

She learned how to do that. She's been on her own most of her life, and she knows what people want to see and what they want to hear. And how they disappoint you. This one might take the cake. All the cakes. And yes, that's a bit cynical, but that's what happens when you take care of yourself. 

Alone.

Her hand goes to her mouth, lost in thought, her thumb pressing on her top lip, nail between her front teeth. 

Coulson.

What if she never sees him again?

Why is she thinking about that right now? With Ward sitting next to her. She checks him over her shoulder, as though he might catch her thinking about someone else besides him.

If she had kissed Coulson in that closet, impetuously, thinking they were going to both die, she wouldn't be regretting it now. Because Coulson was never going to turn out to be a lying serial killer. 

It's just that Coulson, also, was probably never getting alone in a closet with her. 

Like, on purpose and everything. I mean, they'd been locked together in his office. Also under terrifying circumstances. He seemed very eager to get out of the office, but, of course he would've been. Why wouldn't he?

Being trapped on the Bus for several months, she needed to feel, and Ward... She was very much regretting every single small flirtation with him. It was a habit she had picked up, from before this life. Just lose yourself in something easy and uncomplicated. Especially when what you really wanted seemed completely and totally unreasonable.

When Ward had shot Nash, that was disconcerting. She had thought he was cracking and she was willing to get to know him, but with the brakes applied. She wanted to be sure that he was okay, now that everything had really fallen apart, the team was all they had. 

It turns out he was never okay, and the reality was worse than the lie.

She excuses herself to go to the bathroom and also to look for weapons and anything else that might result in him being the one in the tight spot.

****

 

The headbutt was just to make it very, very, clear that his hands were not welcome on any part of her.

Telling him off had felt so right. It set her free. She didn't have to pretend to be his girlfriend, his anything. And what a disgusting, awful thought. 

Now he knew where they stood, and he knew that she was not interested in anything, ever, when it came to him.

He was delusional and the way he looked at her and talked about her like he's already compartmentalized her in some weird place in his lying Nazi fictional universe was absolutely chilling. The faster he was locked away, so she wouldn't have to see his face or hear his voice ever again? Better.

The only thing she felt slightly guilty about was the look on his face when his heart had stopped and she had gone cold for a moment. Not his face, but the chill inside of her, like she could turn that off. Mike's voice had coaxed her back. This wasn't about revenge, this was about who she was and Garrett wasn't going to use Ward to ruin her, or use Mike to kill Ward and pile that onto his track record.

Screw their Nazi asses, let them have the hard drive data. She had bought time, she put a trojan on it. She was still alive. It was just a matter of figuring out how to get out of here now that they had her shut up in the interrogation room.

Coulson.

She thought about him again.

Why? Because she wanted him here? How would that make it better? Then they'd both be locked up.

She almost laughed at herself. It wasn't funny.

Yeah, but, they'd be talking and planning and he'd probably make some dumb joke to make it all seem less dire than it actually was. And he'd look at her, with that smile in his eyes. They'd be alone. 

She'd kiss him, finally. Because, they might both die today. And he'd probably tell her that it was inappropriate and do something tender and confusing like touch her face and say they were making it out alive, together.

But, maybe, just maybe...he'd kiss her back. Maybe he would kiss her back so good, they'd both end up pressed against the wall, and he would admit this whole time, he'd felt it, too.

Her 50 year old boss with the suits and the face. And screw it, she didn't care. She liked his suits and his hands and his eyes.

Suddenly, hers get big when she hears the latch on the door turn. She needs to put her game face back on.

Oh. No. Is this even possible?

She's out of the seat and the look on his face, like he just found everything.

Crashing into him, she puts her arms around him, latches them, holds him as close to her as she can.

His hands are touching her, like he's afraid to let them land anywhere too solid.

Oh, Coulson.

He asks if Ward hurt her, and then they head towards the cockpit and he's got his gun. Is he going to shoot Ward?

"But how did you get past Deathlok?" she asks.

That halts him in his tracks.

They run instead.

Together.

****

After she got a brush through her hair, it reminded her, sadly, of the last thing she ever wanted to think about after a day like this.

The nuns brushing her hair and telling her how it was unruly and tangly, and she had to brush it every single day so it wouldn't look like a rat's nest.

Well, Sister Catherine, try dropping out of a flying car with one damaged thruster from 25,000 ft and then you can talk.

Her whole body was shaking. It had to be the adrenaline.

They had made it out, they were alive.

Coulson had rescued her. He'd snuck onto the Bus and whatever that was, she was sure it wasn't protocol, and she was also sure that when they had landed, and they were on solid ground, it took every ounce of strength in her not to kiss him right then and there.

He just looked like such a mess, she thought it would be too much. And then the valet came up, and he actually went for his wallet.

Skye started laughing, alone in the motel room.

Ah, shit.

She didn't want to start crying. This was some kind of roller coaster she was on, and she just needed to contain herself. She needed to think about what they would do next, because, there was no way Ward and Garrett were getting away with this.

Closing the door behind her, she went out to the pool, waved over at Fitz and Simmons and sat down at the table.

She really didn't want to talk to anyone and she didn't want to be alone, either.

Trip appeared and made some small chatter. She put on the smile again. He was a nice guy, no need to drag him into the mess she was at the moment.

Trip motioned towards the motel door with his head and Coulson came out.

She heard Coulson say, "Live a little," to Trip and he took the hint.

Skye stared him down. Letting herself watch him in a way she normally never would. Before, she'd just stolen glances on the Bus, out in the field.

He made some joke about never being homeless before. Levity, his way of easing into something.

"It's not fun," she said, flatly. "At least we have a pool."

He bent in front of the vending machine, stood back up with something in his hand.

He had to know her eyes were on him. The way they were on him.

"We'll get him," he said.

Okay, maybe not. Maybe he just thought it was anger. Okay, part of it was anger. Hey, there were a lot of things mixed in there right now. Alright, that's what he was doing. Cutting through the other stuff. Maybe she just needed to calm down. Start thinking.

She explained that she'd rigged the hard drive with a trojan.

Then he smirked, relieved, maybe even proud. 

When he lifted his eyes back up to hers, his hand came from under the table up. He was offering her part of his candy bar.

She took it, stared back at him, a smile teasing the corners of her mouth. 

Or, maybe he understood a lot more than he let on?

Something he wasn't quite ready for.

But, he was still willing to share.

"Nice night," he said, looking away.


End file.
